Thursday, February 15, 2018

"Though my heart grows weary, I never will despair."

I know it is odd to start off the Lenten season with an Easter hymn... but I'm pretty sure this hymnline works any time of year.

Now
and then I get weary… of body mostly nowadays… but often I get weary of
heart… weary of spirit. I think I am not alone in this one!

But
despair? By definition, this is the complete loss of hope… the absence
of optimism. Have you ever been just this side of despair? Have you ever
felt that if you didn’t make some kind of radical adjustment, you might
just go over the edge and tumble into hopelessness?

This hymnline allows me to make a bold statement against ever letting that out-of-control spiral happen to me. “I never will despair.”
If I mean those four words when I sing them -- and I say them with
confidence and commitment -- I have made a stand against the Evil One
who wants to entice me toward the cliff’s edge and then nudge me over
into oblivion.

Let’s all admit that we grow weary now
and then… of our jobs/careers, our families, our bank accounts, our
community – even our church-life. One of my favorite lines from John
Grisham’s The Painted House was the lady who would have been a Baptist but she just didn’t have the energy!

We can accept weariness, but as followers of the Risen Christ, we can NOT buy in to despair.

Every
now and then during the music at a revival-type service, the music
leader will shout into the microphone, “Sing it like you mean it!” That
always chafes me a bit because I thought I WAS! But the next time you
sing this hymnline – corporately or devotionally – sing it like you mean
it!

Hymnlines - Hemlines: Get it?! :)

About Me

A native of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, went to high school with Dolly Parton... and am still friends with her sister Stella who was "most talented" with me in our graduating class of 1967! Was a Southern Baptist for most of my life,am currently affiliated with Cooperative Baptists. Have worked in Baptist and Presbyterian churches - basically consider myself a Baptiterian!

Love words (texts). Am a published hymn-writer, anthem-text writer and composer. Into live theater, museums and antique stores. Enjoy good movies and PBS dramas.

Married to Carlita - Two bonus sons: Dustin,and Clint and his wife Sherry with our two grandsons Kyle and Carson who just happen to live close by!